Tag Archives: God

Submissions

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P1220931 compressedIt was my first trip to Uganda. I was part of a three-days Pastor’s Conference and was bringing the morning and afternoon training. And each day the same Ugandan Pastor would finish off the day with what we call in the west, a holy-rolling spiritual encounter.

It wasn’t really my style. I didn’t even understand it all the way. There were mixed messages, parts that did make sense to me but then parts that made no sense to me whatsoever. Yet I was determined to learn and simply waited on the Lord to explain the elements of which I was unsure.

In addition to this, I wasn’t even so sure of the gentleman himself for there were mixed messages simply in the way he greeted and communicated with me, and I am pretty sure he was not too certain about me as well.

But with three days to hear, see, and witness each others hearts we came to a tentative agreement of sorts between us, (all of this of course in the unspoken realm of body language and spiritual authority).

If nothing else I had seen and experienced through a simple handshake that this man had a profound anointing of the Holy Spirit (I had nearly gone down when he shook my hand, the Spirit was so strong on him). So even though all the parts didn’t make complete sense to me, I was quite aware that I was in a completely different country and culture and knew that God would look different there. I was eager to learn.

My second trip to Uganda had this gentleman and myself in ministry alongside each other for another number of days. I became more used to his very loud and exuberant demonstrations about the Lord, and he seemed to get used to my slightly quieter yet strong way of doing things. Our rapport and respect began to grow.

Keep in mind that we could not communicate. He spoke virtually no English and I of course spoke no Ugandan. And yet, despite this the Holy Spirit began to grow us in sync with one another. When I was preaching and drawing near to praying freedoms and healing he would get to his feet bouncing in anticipation as the Spirit would fall heavily amongst us. I began to really enjoy him.

One of my last days of that trip I was at this gentleman’s church. I’d spent two days at each church I visited and it was no different here. He introduced me to his congregation with respect and a simple, “This is a powerful woman.” And I recognized in him a growing understanding that authority does not have so much to do with volume but with something much deeper. He was learning from me as much as I was learning from him.

Near the end of our first day he made the announcement that the next day he would be anointing and praying over people in regards to their problems. I thought to myself, “Gosh I have some problems! I am going to have to make sure that he prays for me.” All the while calculating the risk of ‘going down’ in the Spirit (on that dirt floor) and who knows what other potential oddities. But it didn’t matter. For I’d seen that this man was anointed of God and I could definitely use some of that blessing over me. Simply put, I could use more of God. No matter how it came, I simply needed more of God.

The next day arrived. I spoke in the first session, and as we came to his afternoon prayer time I was ready and excited about being prayed over. As with most times we had olive oil for anointing during prayer, and his church was no different. Into a bowl he poured olive oil, ready for anointing all those who wanted prayer. Yet before I could catch my breath, all of a sudden he had placed the bowl of olive oil in my hands and was on his knees in front of me, waiting for me to pray and bless and anoint him.

I was surprised to say the least. Turns out we had both been thinking the same thing. Each of us wanted to make sure the other prayed for us. I prayed over him, and then the other leaders as they came and also made sure I prayed over them. And it took some intention, to say the least, to make my point of, “Please pray for me too” as I got on my knees.

All this is but one story of mutual recognition of spiritual authority that took place on my journey’s in Uganda. What these experiences feel to me are the essence of what the Bible is speaking of when it says ‘submit yourselves to one another’.

Submission is a little understood word. We use it all the time to justify keeping others low. I am pretty sure in fact that much of our understanding of submission in no way accurately represents the heart of God. Rather than having anything to do with position or title, these mutual submissions were moments when we recognized the authority each carried and we mutually came under each others anointing for blessing.

Simply moments of equipping and bounty poured out from the Lord through and over each other. Moments holding for me tangible lessons in the essence of submission that speak of and accurately reflect the generous nature of God’s heart. It is a place of settling into the anointing of each other. Where we say, “I recognize God in you. Please pour what you have of God over me.”

Theses mutual submissions mark an intimacy with the Lord. In them we are marked by a pouring down of our Holy Spirit. By them we mark each other with respect and honor.

We are all strengthened and touched to the core of our beings. And that is a grand understatement.

Profoundly beautiful moments and spaces. Just one of the things I’ve experienced in Uganda.

God’s Cologne

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P1130613 web compressedThere is a man who lives next door to me with his wife and daughter. Being at the end of the hall our doors are less than three-feet away from each other. And many are the day when leaving my building that I follow the scent of his cologne down the hall and into the elevator.

I cannot tell you how amazing this is. To find myself drinking in aroma meant to inhabit my senses is a giddy start to any day to say the least. I simply love men’s cologne and I’ve thought a number of times to thank his wife or daughter for that magnificent purchase.

A few weeks back I was thinking about the smell of God. Wondering what he would smell like. What aroma clings to God? It was a thought I’ve never thought before. A new one for me. Yet I found it inspiring to think about and to wonder over.

This Christmas season, the dark winter days, the peace of my home has inhabited my senses in a surprisingly fresh way this year. I’m settled like never before, am finding creativity oozing out of my being and generally have been feeling a heady giddiness with life that has me wondering and in awe.

Today I’ve been writing. I’m working on a book and a course about walking in spiritual authority and of bearing the mark and representation of God. My portions of work today have been about the character of God, of integrity and honor and of God’s passion and heart for us and the way in which this has been expressed through the ages in a masterful plan of rescue and redemption.

I’ve been so overcome as I write that I have paused over and over just to worship and have had to simply sit, allowing my spirit to soar in awe and delight. Entering onto my knees for there is no better response, I’m simply driven to adoration.

And I think I have my answer. This is the cologne of God.

His presence. His grandeur. His might.

The atmosphere in my home and in my spirit has for some weeks now been heavily laden with the presence of God, such that I simply sit in Him stunned and slightly giddy. Not unlike the walk down the hall in the wake of my neighbors cologne.

I must say, God smells pretty good.

Context

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P1120124 compressedContext is everything.

One thing said in one instance is a completely different thing said the same way but in another context.

We hear words and we stop there. But there is so much more going on and a very large part of communication is taking into account the context.

Without context we make all sorts of fatal errors of judgment.

Context changes the application, it changes the presentation, and it changes the response.

Context does not change truth but it does bring to bear a heavy weight or responsibility upon that truth, a responsibility to present truth within the context by which others find themselves.

Speaking is about context. Listening is about context.

This past week I am struck afresh about how within the context of Jesus Christ all things are changed.

Our conversations about sin and sorrow have been completely changed in context of Jesus Christ.

For if we really got it, REALLY GOT IT, that Love covers over a multitude of sins, might not our condemnations and our judgments be completely put to rest?

Wouldn’t our experiences of joy and delight take on incredible depths and proportions in context of Jesus Christ, if we really got him?

Titus 1:15 says, “To the pure, all things are pure.”

Context. What is the context of your vision, your understanding and your perspectives?

Just this one verse alone challenges our thinking and our paradigms. For within the Christian community there is much ranting and raving about all the bad and wrong in the world. It is not hard to find multiple condemnations and forceful judgments coming out of the mouths of those who claim to know God.

But those things, the attitudes of our hearts that hate everyone and everything, is not the heart of God. Our hearts are not very pure when our focus only sees the bad and the wrong.

‘To the pure, all things are pure.’

It never hurts to truly challenge ourselves in regards to our hearts and the context from which we are living.

After all, our lives depend on it.

Victor

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P1260995 compressedI was staying at Edith’s home for some three weeks. With a lovely home on the outskirts of Jinja, Uganda, there were many of us there. I had stayed there before, but this time Edith’s daughter was there with her little boy.

Victor was not quite two years old. A sweet little guy, but like a few of the littlest children, afraid of me and my strange white appearance.

Yet I was determined to make friends with him (longed to make friends with him), and he seemed to have the same notion. Every day, numerous times a day, he would skitter past my room, peering in through the open door-way, catch my glance and skitter away.

And every day he would come a couple of inches closer than the day before.

For the first week he would simply stand afar off in the hallway, looking and taking me in. And when I looked up to smile at him, off he would go. The second week he would come a touch closer, and stay a touch longer.

Now I wasn’t there all day every day, but at the start and ends of my days, and on my days off, Victor and I slowly developed a tentative rapport.

Generally speaking he was a bit of a fussy boy. And so there were tears and cries as he was put down for a nap, or when he wanted his Mama’s comfort or feeding, or when he was simply frustrated and feeling left out.

A lot of the time he wore only a small beaded belt around his waist, and in his beautiful baby body he toddled around the home, comfortable and free in his own skin, and as the weeks passed he finally got as close as the doorway to my room.

And then came my last Saturday in Edith’s home. Both Edith and her daughter were at the garden. I was home that day as were a few of the teen girls and a number of the children, Victor being one of them.

About mid-morning he became very sad with many tears. The other kids weren’t letting him play with them, the girls were preparing and cooking food, and his Mama was not there. What was a little boy to do?

I saw that maybe my time had come. Slowly I approached and scooped down to take him in my arms. I cannot express the delight as he let me pick him up and take him on my lap.

We simply sat. He calmed down. I was thrilled.

We hadn’t gotten closer than four feet prior to this, and to think that he was letting me hold him was a grand breakthrough. From that point on we were true friends, with an easy snuggling on my lap each day till I left.

I wonder how much this story represents us and God. We are afraid and unsure, startled by who God is, and certainly not sure how close we want to be.

But when life gets hard, when our common comforts are not at hand, and when we are at our wits end, we say okay, I’ll come closer to you now. “Yes I’ll let you in.”

Thing is, this takes some time. It took Victor three full weeks to allow me to touch him, but we were in the same house all along. I was simply there, and he was curious but fearful.

Isn’t it the same with God and us? God is simply here, in the house, present and eager, simply waiting to extend love and care. We hold back. It is us who are afraid.

We are the unsure ones.

Notice the picture of Victor (above) taken near the end of my trip and after we had become friends.

Can you see the affection coming out of his clear eyes, his frank companionship and gladness of being as I took his picture?

He wasn’t afraid any longer.

And this is how we can be with God. Come near to God and God will come near to us.

Fear of the unknown, insecurity about the present, and all that holds us back, will fall away. For in God’s presence we are validated, and encouraged, and strengthened.

We are comforted, supported, empowered.

How much time will we allow to pass swallowed in our own uncertainty?

“God, I have no idea how to come near to you, but I ask that you show me how. You scare me, I am afraid of you, but I want to know you, I want companionship and rapport with you.”

We don’t need to bring anything other than ourselves to God.

Like Victor’s naked little body, we simply come, and stand, risking to be seen and to be held, and to be changed forever.

Capturing God’s Heart – Grown Up – Volume 16

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There are numerous ways that we gauge the person of Christ.

We look at the things of the Spirit and ask things like, “Does this person have an anointing of God?”

What are the fruits of this persons ministry? Are others encouraged and empowered by this person? Is the word of God preached with understanding given by the Holy Spirit?

It is very easy in the church to look only at the anointing of the Spirit, to gauge the maturity of the person. But we perceive that anointing is only one piece of our walk with God and of our new nature in Christ.

Continue reading →

Sabbath Rest

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the Glory of GodSundays are a day for pausing, for reflecting and for worship.

It’s a day where we live out our inner convictions of whose we are in this world.

Of how the universe works,

And our part in it.

In a world where the work never ends, it is imperative that we take a day to stand back from the work, and to give thanks.

Not that we don’t worship or give thanks on any other day of the week, there is something powerful when we put action to our gratitude in the form of pause.

Work hard, play hard, rest hard

And worship.

For many, resting is hard work,

And worship is foreign,

But these are the power of constraint in full force.

Taking a day to pause, to consider, to rest our bodies and our minds, gives greater force to the rest of our week. Pausing to gather strength and reapportion passion, and we are well set to take on our days throughout the week.

Resting is all about changing it up a bit. It doesn’t matter if you live in the city and resting is getting to the country, or if you live in the country and resting is getting to the city – rest is about shifting the pace and depth of life, if even for just one day.

Worship is all about gratitude and giving thanks to the one who has given it all. For no matter our circumstances we can all find things to be deeply thankful for, and to bring those thanks in intimacy to God.

Sabbaths are especially made for this.

Rather than some old-worn relic of a habit, Sabbaths ground us, and they release us. Gathered into your Sabbaths are the memory of your days, the knowledge of your purpose, and the voice of your life.

Sabbaths give room for these and give voice for these.

Without a Sabbath, we are increasingly isolated, both from ourselves and from the one who fashioned us and gave us breath.

“For whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” Hebrews 4:10

Invest in your Sabbath, mark it in some way, acknowledge it, create a habit of rest and refreshment in it (whatever that might be for you), and be prepared for your life to settle into place, like a home on its sure foundations, strong, tall, proud.

Capturing God’s Heart – Relationship – Volume 14

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Living the Christian life is not about formula. It is not about rules or procedures, it is not about right or wrong even. Christianity is about a living relationship with God, with Jesus Christ, and with our Holy Spirit.

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Romans 10:4

“But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:18

Living the Christian life is about entering into a relationship with God, growing in that relationship, and finding out what our new friend (God) likes or doesn’t like.

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Walking in Spiritual Authority – Part One – The King’s Heart

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Your particular gift set, your experiences, your story and your unique personality are perfectly matched with the needs of this day and age. Learn how to completely settle into your own life and then into how to give it away.

This course is for those who want to do more with their lives for God and for others. It is for those serious about leveraging all of who they are for The King, the Kingdom of God and for people, the great loves of The King’s heart.

Your life is currency. How might you invest it? Learn how to express it.

Part One: The King’s Heart & Understanding Authority

The entire conversation about spiritual authority must solidly reside within the context of the Kingdom of God and the work of Jesus Christ. In Module One: The King’s Heart we dig deep into the character of God and how everything about who we are can reside within the light of Christ.

  • the King’s heart | the Kingdom of God | Lex Rex | becoming indispensable | value and worth | fullness of God | process | alignment | shining | ambassador of God | sowing and reaping | judgments | intimacy | strength | influence | transparent | safe | bold

In our humanity our understanding of authority is often skewed and misrepresented. Not only have we been hurt by authority in the past, but many of us shrink from authority. In this we leave our legacy of co-regents in the Kingdom of God aside. It’s time to unpack Godly authority and take it on for ourselves.

  • overview of authority | natural authority | positional authority | specific authority | cautions about authority | church authority | spiritual authority | growth | experience | authority gone bad | transformation | anointing | assignments
 

Spiritual Authority is all about representing the King of Kings. It is about working out His will on this earth. It is about stepping up, taking the land and restoring to God’s original plan the details of our lives and our communities and this world.

Before we can know authority we must know its author. Risking to open our heart to the King of Kings, risking to have his heart opened to us we are equipped from deep inside to live authority that mirrors him and expresses him. That place where all things are made new.

 

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, and Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Isaiah 40:28-29 ESV.

 

Please Note that we have this course written for a North American audience and also specifically written for our overseas indigenous colleagues.

Contact US for information about the material specific to you.

Capturing God’s Heart – Trusting with Little – Volume 13

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The journey with our God is an interesting one.

We quickly learn that God’s timing is not our timing, and that God’s ways are not our ways.

In fact, there are many times when God simply says ‘No’ or ‘Not this way’.

It is at times like this that our motives and heart are tested and tried.

We tend to make Plan A with God. We come up with our best scenario, and then we invite God into it.

But Plan A is usually not the best plan. For the first plan we think of is usually the easiest, and with the least amount of risk.

Much like Gideon in the Old Testament, we want surety and guaranteed success.

Continue reading →

Chosen from Birth

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making life countWhat has been the cry of your heart for as long as you can remember?

It is in the quiet of the day that we are reminded of such. In the hustle and the bustle we cannot find the screaming whispers of our hearts. But in the quiet…

Perhaps that is why we (as a society at large) are afraid of silence.

For the longings and the passions cannot be ignored in the silence; we are brought face to face with ourselves. It’s not always an easy thing.

For what if ‘yourself’ wanted to feed the orphans in Romania?

What if ‘yourself’ longed to teach English in China?

If ‘yourself’ dreamed of traveling indigenous villages of Africa…

What would then be required of you? How do we respond to ‘ourselves’?

Any of these things (and all the myriad of options) require that we organize our life around these very same things. They demand no less.

And whether it is social justice kind of work or whether it is exploring the stars and the cosmos like you’ve always wanted, perhaps inventing a new shoe that increases circulation and well-being even while we walk, maybe its…

You fill in the blank.

It doesn’t matter what it is, for what it is for you and me is so incredibly unique that we dare not compare ourselves; whatever it is, do it because it is a part of you.

Life, real living, demands that we take notice and give voice to the deepest longings of our beings; your job for you, my job for me, each job for each.

And whether it is moving across town, across the continent, across nations, or whether it is changing jobs, the willingness to orient our lives around this hard inner pull marks the satisfied.

The dreams and desires and whispers of longing that come out in the silent moments, they deserve to be listened to.

Learn to honor yourself, the deepest core of you. It will surely change your life in some way. And this is exactly the starting place. If you can make changes in your life for you, then you can make changes in your life for others.

If you can respond to your own hearts longings, you can respond to the heart longings of others.

We have all been charged with the mandate to have dominion over our lives. To choose and to act and to express, to articulate by word and deed, the beauty placed deep within.

The key to the will of God in our lives, is found in the silent places. The longing, the dream, the whispered desires…

Those things, those things, are the will of God for you. Those things we are given by God’s own hand and heart. And it is now your turn to take hold of them, to take hold of yourself, and give breath to the seeds of life and of purpose that are within.

They are already there. We needn’t go looking anywhere. We must simply look inside… and get r-e-a-l quiet.

Like waiting on wildlife in the forest, dreams and visions and longings are as skittish as wild rabbits.

To get to know them, we must be quiet.

How might you build some quiet into your life today?

Freaking Out

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Bigger PerspectiveI wake up almost every day freaking out. With new things on the horizon (with new things right in front of me), it is way too easy to be overwhelmed and unsure.

Therefore, every morning I spend considerable time quieting my heart and mind, praying, meditating, journaling, until my center has been reestablished in the character of God rather than my own immediate realities.

I’ve learned to not move until there is peace.

In less than eight weeks I will be in Uganda once more. And though there are many things about this trip that I do not know about, details not yet fallen into place, provision still to come, I’ve learned that peace comes in the character of God, and not in my own immediate realities or understanding.

None of this is about you or I. And I wonder sometimes if we really get this.

Though our lives feel ultimately personal, when our lives are intersected by the spirit of God we simply become the canvas for God’s painting.

It’s really not about us.

Simply the conduit by which God is translated to the world, our lives take a back seat. My own freaking out places are simply my humanity that has trouble seeing the bigger picture, trouble seeing past myself.

Freaking out is simply ‘myself’ in the midst of the picture. I’ve got to remember, I am the canvas, God is the artist. Period.

Are we given over to God?

Given over to God is the ultimate opportunity and adventure. While everyone’s experience and specifics are as numerous and different as the sands on the seashore, ‘our lives given over as a canvas’ is there for everyone.

It is in fact the call of the gospel and the invitation of Jesus Christ.

This world has gone bad. We can all agree to that. With illness and atrocity, chronic discouragements to trauma (and this is the short list), life certainly is not what its all cracked up to be.

Things have gone horribly wrong.

Spiritually blinded by the fracture between ourselves and God, Jesus came onto the scene to give us back our eyesight (Thank-You Jesus). That ability to see and know things beyond our knowing, to access wisdom beyond our own smarts, and to have the finger of God sweep through our days leaves whisps of godly presence behind.

Good presence, honorable presence, right presence.

And in that presence of God we are invited to join in on setting things right in the world. The redemption of all that has gone wrong (while completed on the cross) is brought into our realities as a continual present tense happening that you and I can partake of, enter into, and move forward through our own involvement.

We come to ask, “What is on your heart God? How might I make happen today what is important to you?”

And the world begins to be set right. Bit by bit, little by little, the lost land taken back, things set straight.

The message of “God so loved the world”, doesn’t end with you and I, it is in fact an invitation,

“Will you love the world alongside me? You and I together.”

We are all better together.

Freaking out is simply us in the middle of the picture. But Us doesn’t have to stay there. Us in the middle of the picture makes for pretty small perspective and shortened eyesight.

God in the middle of the picture is the great exchange.

“My own eyesight is pretty narrow God, I’d like your eyesight please. My own life is overwhelming and nerve wracking, I’d like to live through your life God. My own perspectives are small, I’d like to move and have my being through your perspectives God.”

We simply give over our humanity for an understanding of and relationship with God and his glory and love and presence poured out on this earth.

And we don’t have to freak out any more.